In Wonderland
by Perhin
Summary: Frodo doesn't want to be in the rich life of the 1800s and wishes for one night to be young in Wonderland with Sam. But did it really happen long ago or is it a dream? You decide. SLASH!


**Authors Note:**

This is an AU. It is set in the late 1800s in London, England. There are references to the industrial revolution in the beginning and to Lewis Carroll's works _Alice in Wonderland_,_ Through the Looking Glass_, and _The Hunting of the Snark_. What is a Snark? There is no way of describing it; you just have to read the poem. I hope I portrayed the need of marriage and business like it was.

**123456789**

Snow came down upon the windowpanes softly, like sweet, gentle kisses. Or at least, that's what Frodo imagined it as. He tried counting the snowflakes but they increased and he frowned at the window.

He sighed. Frodo looked around his bedroom. It was furnished with the finest Victorian furniture with soft cushions, beautiful curtains, a four-poster bed, and a mahogany wardrobe. But the room felt empty to Frodo. It was missing someone.

He wouldn't be living there long. In March he was to be married to some girl he hadn't even met. Elizabeth was her name, and he'd only be in her presence with his parents and hers and a few choice others, whom his parents thought were important.

Frodo didn't want to be a businessman like his father, with factories and numbers and smoke rising into the air. He wanted to travel. He wanted to see the vineyards of Italy. He wanted to see Greece and India, and he wanted to see France on foot with only the clothes on his back and a small sack. But he knew he could never do any of this. He was wealthy and must do as he was told. Frodo must get married. Frodo must remain in England. Frodo must not tell-

Frodo's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. He grinned as his friend entered the room.

"Sam, I told you that you mustn't knock! Father and Mother are only down the hallway. They could hear."

Sam closed the door quietly and smiled. "They'd only think I'd come back to your room on some sort of errand." There was a pause and the Frodo threw back the covers, jumped out of bed and hugged Sam.

"I wish there was a secret door of some sort in my room for you to enter! Wouldn't that be grand?"

Frodo took in everything he could of Sam. The sweat and dirt on him; the dirty hair and clothes. He was his complete opposite and Frodo loved it. Frodo wished he was the same as Sam, so he could be with him forever. Maybe they could raise enough money and go off on travels. It would be hard, but it would be just them. Just them.

"Sam, where have you been all day?" Frodo asked. "I hardly saw you."

"You're father had me working on that new furnace thing. I don't like it. It's loud and I get smoke in me eyes. That's why I'm all dirty."

"You need a bath. Come take a bath in-"

"No!" Sam shook his head. "Are you mad, Frodo? It's enough that I visit you every night. But usin' your things? No. It's-"

"Sam, it's alright! I do not mind." He made a grab for Sam's hand, but it was jerked out of reach. "Sam?"

"No! We're different. We cannot do this!"

Frodo stared at the floor. He wanted to do it. He wanted Sam. He wanted everything that was out his grasp and he knew he'd never even get a finger on them.

"Will you at least sit on the bed with me?"

Sam grinned and took Frodo's hand and kissed it.

"Am _I_ to be the damsel?" Frodo asked.

"You can be whatever you like."

"Then my named must be changed."

Sam thought for a moment. "I fancy Alice. After that book you like so much."

"You should read it."

"I'm not much for letters."

"You should be. Now let us get on the bed."

They climbed into the bed and there was lots of kissing and removing of Sam's clothes until he was just in his trousers. Frodo kissed his loved from his navel to his mouth, and then after was held tightly in strong arms. It was not a secret between the two that the other wished they were a girl or that they were the other's class.

Frodo sighed and said, "In another life I wish to be with you in a world far from here, in a place where we could run free and be ourselves. In a place that's magical. Like my books. With talking plants and magical creatures and we could just live off somewhere by ourselves and no one would know us. No one. I wouldn't have to be married off. And-" at this point Frodo rose and straddled Sam- "and I could travel, and you could come with me! Oh, the things we could see! A-"

"Frodo you're living in a fairy tale! This will never happen! You will be married in March and me and you will never see each other again!"

Frodo got off of Sam and sat on the side of the bed. "Just let me live my last Christmas Eve in happiness, Sam. Let me live in a fairy tale. Let me be a damsel and you my knight and let us be in love without chaperones or rings or weddings or flowers or dates and times and…and women to think of.

"Let me be in Wonderland playing croquet with a queen, talking to a cat, and drinking tea with a hatter. Let me hunt for the Snark with forks and hope. Don't let me grow up in factories and smoke. Let me be young forever. Just for tonight." He looked at Sam hopelessly, looking for an answer.

"Get dressed. We're goin' to Wonderland."

**123456789**

Frodo and Sam laughed as they ran down the dark ally in the bright street lamp. The snow had lightened since Frodo has seen it through the window and he was enjoying catching snow flakes on his tongue,

"I haven't done this since I was a child!" Frodo exclaimed. "You can see them better under the lamp."

"Frodo, we can do more than eat snow flakes!" Sam said laughing.

"What shall we do then? Climb to the highest tower?" He grabbed Sam's hands and they began swinging in a circle. Sam laughed at the childish act, but Frodo talked on. "Tie a rope around the moon and claim it as ours? Count the stars in Cassiopeia? Go swimming in the Thames? Go to the Tower and see if we can find any friendly ghosts?"

"All in one night?"

"All in one minute!"

"Wha-"

Sam's hand slipped out of Frodo's and they fell into a heap onto the ground.

"Sam, do I have to box your ears to make you hold on!" Frodo said with a smile.

"You might have to do more than that, _miss_."

Frodo's eyebrows went up and his smile widened. "Like _what_?"

Sam looked away and his cheeks reddened.

"We've never! We have…You are so naughty, Sam!..."

"I meant a kiss, Frodo! A kiss!' Sam's cheeks were still red and Frodo's were matching quickly.

"Oh…Oh, a kiss." Frodo looked up at the sky and said, "A kiss on Christmas Eve would be more romantic. My mind was out of place. I dread having children!" Frodo's eyes were round and getting rounder by the moment.

"I just realized I have to have children!" He fell back onto the cobblestone road and sighed. "I don't want to have children. Oh, I wish I could grow up to be an old maid!"

"Aye and I wish the same. Nothing seems wrong with two old maids workin' together. We could pretend we were sisters or cousins or somthin'."

Frodo coughed and said in a high voice, "And this is my cousin Samantha."

Sam laughed and replied. "Alice is twice removed on my mother's side, but really"- his voice was very high at this point-"she's my third cousin on my father's side."

"How does that work out?" Frodo asked.

"I don't know!"

Frodo laughed, stood and offered his hand. "Let's climb the highest tower and catch the moon."

**123456789**

Sam watched Frodo walk around the room- that is, if you could call it a room. Moonlight streamed into the clock face showing it was 10:45. Frodo drew a heart on the cold glass and marked an arrow threw it. He turned around and smiled.

"Eros and Aphrodite have sent me a grand Christmas gift."

Sam looked at him. "Who?"

"They are the Greek god and goddess of love."

"I thought it was that Cupid fellow."

Frodo held Sam's hands and motioned for him to join him in drawing. "He's Roman. The Romans mostly stole the Greek's gods and goddesses and changed their names; but they did create some of their own. A bit mean isn't it? What can you draw, Sam?"

Sam blushed. "I'm not very good."

"Doesn't matter. It isn't a contest. Draw."

Sam sat down in the floor where there was a perfect piece of glass that wouldn't be touched any time soon by the hands of the clock. Frodo turned his back, looking over his shoulder occasionally pretending to peek.

"How would you like living here, Sam? Up in the clock tower?"

"There are sure to be rats. I think I saw one on our way up."

"No matter. Every place in London has rats. I was thinking of this room. It would be cozy if we fixed it up nice and neat." Frodo walked around the room imagining places where things would go.

"There's no fire, just a light, and we'd be cold and miserable."

"We'd have each other." He turned around when Sam didn't reply. Sam was looking at his work.

"Turtle doves," Frodo said. "I love it. No wonder it took you so long." Every little detail was there. From feathers to the eyes, nothing was missing, and it was art compared to the heart that had already faded away.

"I want to go to the River, Sam."

"I was just about to ask you the same thing. It _was_ on your list."

**123456789 **

The air was freezing, but the couple didn't' care. They ran all the way from Big Ben to the Bridge. Frodo was ahead and jumped in the air when he reached the Bridge first. He was then tackled by Sam.

He laughed. Frodo then pulled Sam closer and kissed him lightly on the lips, just enough for them to brush against each other. Sam kissed in return, but deeper, making Frodo moan. A toll of a bell eleven times made Frodo stop.

Frodo pushed Sam off of him.

"Not yet."

"Why?"

"We must do it at midnight."

"What? Why?" Sam sat next to Frodo.

"That's when the magic ends and the damsel must go back to her normal life. The best part has to be left for the end."

"Where did you find this rule?"

"Books, " Frodo said simply. He stood and began to run. The cold air was blowing in his ears and snow covered him. Sam was not far behind him and all he could think off was that he had one hour to be in Wonderland. What to do? What _to_ do? Suddenly he stopped.

"Why did you stop?" asked Sam as he caught his breath.

"Do you know how to dance, Sam?"

Sam laughed. "Dance? Yes, with lasses…You want to dance? Here?"

Frodo grinned. It was a silly idea. "Yes, I'd like to dance. Just imagine me as your cousin Alice."

"I don't do none of that fancy dancin' you do at those balls and parties, Frodo."

"I hardly dance at any of the parties. I mostly sit in the corner watching. We don't have to dance properly. Just twirl me around like a little girl and I'll be happy."

Sam offered his hand, and Frodo giggled at the switch of roles.

"I'm trying to remember what ladies do when they dance," Frodo said.

"You don't have to dance like a girl! And we don't have to do nothin' hard. Let's do somethin' simple."

Frodo looked to see where they were. They were standing right under a street lamp with snow falling on them. Sam had an arm around his waist and his other hand was holding Frodo's. Frodo had his hand on Sam's shoulder and he wanted to be closer, but he thought he'd wait.

The two stood like that for minutes just looking into each others eyes.

"I don't know how…" whispered Sam.

"Nor I…"

Frodo and Sam forgot their dance positions and wrapped their arms around each other. They stayed like that for the longest time. It was colder than it had been when they first set out, and the snow had picked up again, blowing around them.

"We need to get out of the snow," Sam said.

"Not until midnight."

Sam looked hard at Frodo and said, "I'll never forget this night. I know I must have sounded like I wanted to end it from the beginning, but-"

"No!" Frodo shouted. "You have not! You've been wonderful. I've cherished every second. I loved it. I love…you."

"And I love you."

Frodo pulled Sam down and kissed his lips shyly. He grinned as Sam outlined his ear with cold, numb fingers, then feeling kisses instead leading down to his neck. Frodo instantly became warm. Then hot as the kisses were on his mouth, and he soon found no need for his coat. Sam's arm tightened and he was surrounded by warm air and whisperings of "I love you".

Frodo opened his eyes. Sam was looking down at him.

"Good morning, Frodo. Best be quiet. Rosie is still asleep."

Frodo blinked furiously. He was dead. Yes, it was coming back to him. Sam, Rosie, and he were all dead, past the halls of Mandos in the mists. They were in Bag End all in the master bedroom, Frodo on the edge, Sam in the middle, then Rosie. All of Sam and Rosie's children were dead as well, but alive just as they were in this Middle-Earth haven.

"I had the most wonderful dream, Sam," Frodo whispered. "It was like I was in another life; a whole different me. You were there. We were celebrating a holiday called Christmas, and you and I were spending it on the streets in a city called London. It was snowing. I was to be married. And you and I talked about being old maids and being female so we could marry. It was an odd dream. But I enjoyed it."

Sam brushed back Frodo's hair and kissed him lightly on his forehead. "It sounds lovely. What did we do in the streets?"

"We ran and acted as though we were children. I spoke often of a place called Wonderland from a book. When I woke we were kissing."

"Was Rosie there?"

"No." Frodo frowned. "I'm sorry. But I was to marry a lass named Elizabeth."

"Elizabeth? Now that's an odd name."

"Yes."

Frodo opened out his arms and Sam lay lightly on him, giving him a quick kiss on the lips.

"I love you, Frodo."

"I love you, Sam. I love you, too."


End file.
